Trouble In Paradise
by TeraWatt
Summary: Lord Harry James Potter and his eldest son are pulled through the Veil of Death just in time for the Secret Council at Rivendell. I do not own Harry Potter or Lord Of The Rings. Their beach, my sandcastle. Rated T for rampant Paranoia
1. Chapter 1

_**TROUBLE IN PARADISE**_

_**Rita Skeeter**_

_The Ancient and Noble House of Potter are considered by many, the greatest of all our Noble Houses. If any one family could be considered our nation's flagship, it would be the Potters, and rightly so. Say what you might about their proud history, the current incarnation of House Potter is admired not only for the family as a whole, but for its individual members._

_Lady Daphne Potter (nee Greengrass), is a talented Charms Master and Master Arithmancer. Her razor sharp wit and political acumen has seen House Potter rise to previously unseen heights, even greater than when it was led by the current Lord Potter's Grandfather, Charlus. Her mind and political savvy is equal to her stunning beauty, but nothing is more important to her than her doting husband or their children._

_Charles Harry Potter, the second oldest child of Lord and Lady Potter, is a model student. He excels in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy and holds a minimum of 'Exceeds Expectations' in all the other subjects he is taking in his 6__th__ year at Hogwarts._

_Lily Luna Potter, the third child of Lord and Lady Potter, is a brilliant duellist, taking after her father. She excels in transfiguration and charms and her potions grades are equal to that of her namesake (Lily Potter nee Evans). A delightful child, few can resist her bright smile and cheery attitude._

_The current Lord Potter needs no introduction. Lord Harry James Potter, Head of the British Unspeakables, Order of Merlin 1__st__ Class, Defeater of Lord Voldemort and current holder of the longest unbroken winning streak in world history on the duelling circuit. Lord Potter became head of the Unspeakables after his predecessor and he were ambushed in the Veil Room. Albert Croaker was placed in a coma and he passed away several months later. Lord Potter was banished through the Veil of Death and was assumed dead until he emerged, in undisclosed circumstances, a year later. After taking an extended leave of absence, Lord Potter took the position of Department Head and has led Britain's Unspeakables to countless breakthroughs in magical mysteries._

_But, all is not well in the illustrious House of Potter, for there is one more member we have not yet discussed._

_James Sirius Potter, firstborn son and Heir to the House of Potter, in currently completing his seventh year of Hogwarts. His tenure at Hogwarts has been rife with scandals of duelling and a general sense of apathy to the rules. True, he is a gifted student. He is top of his class in several subjects. His behaviour, on the other hand, casts a poor reflection on his otherwise honourable and praiseworthy family._

"_Potter is a menace." Says one Angelique Goldstein, seventh year Ravenclaw. "In fourth year, he set a plague of frogs into our common room the day before final exams."_

"_He (James) has been seen on multiple occasions, hexing other students. It hasn't escaped any of our notice that they're children of convicted Death Eaters." Reveals another student who wishes to remain anonymous._

_Yesterday, events came to a head when a vicious duel broke out in the entrance hall between James Potter and one Timothy Nott, against whom he has a notorious grudge._

_Timothy Nott is the son and grandson of convicted Death Eaters, both of whom are currently serving life sentences in Eldritch Prison since the decommissioning of Azkaban._

_Several eye witnesses say that the two exchanged heated words before wands were drawn and curses thrown. Five bystanders were hit with stray curses, including Lily Potter, before James cast a leg-locker jinx followed by the tap-dancing hex. Both spells hit and Nott's legs broke. Nott then fell backwards and down a flight of stairs._

_James Potter has been suspended for a fortnight and Nott has been transferred to Saint Mungos for specialist treatment._

_More on this story as this drama unfolds._

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Harry hadn't read the Daily Prophet since Rita Skeeter had become the editor. Her slanderous writings never failed to incite outrage at even the most well-loved of Britain's heroes. The fact remained that his eldest son was currently sitting across from him, in his office at the Department of Mysteries instead of at Hogwarts, studying for his NEWTs.

If he _had_ read Rita's article, he would have noted that most of it was factual. His family was enjoying a period of prosperity unequalled by any other House in the British Isles. His family's accomplishment were exactly what she had described and even his own history was accurate.

Albert Croaker, contrary to publicly accessible information had _not_ been in a coma, but had died during the initial confrontation. For the security of the department, his death was kept a close secret until Harry had returned from the Veil and had accepted the mantle of Department Head.

The section of the article pertaining to James, however, was highly embellished and left out several key factors.

Granted, the frog plague was actually true. Professor Flitwick had assigned partners to work on cascading charms and things had gone out of control. It just so happened that Miss Goldstein was terrified of frogs and still hadn't forgiven what she saw as a blatant attack on herself.

The accusations of hexing the children of Death Eaters, however, was categorically false. Several children, whose parents had been arrested by Harry, or on Harry's evidence and testimony, took it upon themselves to punish Harry by attacking his children. Each of his kids had been attacked at one point or another. It just so happened that James was a rough dueller, preferring to put opponents down hard and fast.

Contrary to Rita's insinuation of James going out of his way to attack Nott, the truth was that they had been fierce rivals for the entirety of their school life, not unlike Draco and Harry had been. Not to mention they both liked the same girl.

The fight broke out after lunch. There were no professors in sight and they had both given Rosalind McTaggart a Valentines gift.

The Potter family had taken to a new motto in recent years; "We don't start fights, but by Merlin we finish them."

Nott started throwing bone breakers and cutting hexes. James threw banishers and stunners. Both parties managed to hit bystanders. Nott couldn't find a way to get past James' defence so he went for an unprepared target, Lily. Lily went down with a broken collar bone and James got pissed off. He let loose with a spell chain, too fast for Nott to keep up with. Nott managed to somehow dodge the majority of the chain and shield a few more spells, but the leg-locker and tap-dancing spells got through.

Nott's leg bones shattered into tiny pieces and he fell down a flight of stairs. James was offered a choice of punishment; Nott would be facing the same choice when he returned. He could have detention for the remainder of the year or take a fortnight's suspension.

So here James was in Harry's office, going through his textbooks in preparation for his NEWTs, trying to avoid his father's eye.

Harry was no fool. Growing up with the life he did didn't give him that luxury. He knew that James had always struggled with their family's situation. Things didn't come easily for James. He wasn't naturally talented like his mother or his siblings. He was top of his classes by sheer determination alone, with his nose pressed firmly to the grindstone.

James didn't have many real friends. Sure he had his brother and sister and the Weasley Clan but outside of them he was fairly alone. He faced people trying to use him for his family's fame in his first few years. Years four and five had several girls try to date him for his family's money and recently, people were trying to get in his good graces so as to use his influence to open doors for their future careers.

On top of that, Harry knew James didn't feel comfortable as a person. James was always trying to grow up too fast. He was trying to shoulder the burdens of a man and emulate his father who was his role model.

Harry had told is children the truth about almost every one of his experiences, from living in an abusive environment and being bullied as a child, to his challenges, both mundane and dangerous, at Hogwarts.

Harry never intended for James to measure his own worth against his father's achievements. Yet that is what James did. James was aiming to join the Unspeakables as an apprentice to one Teddy Lupin.

So here is where our tale begins; in an office on Level 9 of the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Mysteries one afternoon.

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Father and son worked in relative silence as the clock ticked away. Harry shuffled through reports and a quill wrote notes of its own accord. Harry paused and looked at the title of the textbook his eldest son was currently memorising. Cracking a grin he saw:

"_The Nature of Magic and the Magic of Nature_"

By Harry Potter

His book had become required reading for seventh year students of ANY subject. Harry had completed his book on such subjects as the Law of Effort and Obstacles and the nature of life debts and ley lines. Magic as it was used through the ages and how it has evolved, devolved and endured.

"You already know it off by heart by now James. You were there as I was putting it to parchment."

"I know that Dad, but it would be particularly embarrassing if I of all people couldn't recall something my own father wrote."

"Ok then, I'll quiz you."

James closed the book and perched it on the arm of his armchair.

"What are ley lines?"

"Ley lines are the flow of ambient magic in the world. They flow between node points which are points on the globe where ambient magic is concentrated most."

"Correct; extra points for putting it in your own words and not answering me word for word from my book. What is the Law of Effort and Obstacles?"

"The Law states that the potency and duration of effect of a piece of magic is exponentially increased by the amount of effort used and or number of obstacles overcome to achieve said piece of magic; standard potency of magic to the power of effort and/or obstacle. This Law governs how powerful a piece of magic, or one's consistent ability to achieve said magic by how hard it was to learn or cast."

"Excellent. Those are the main points that the examiners will expect you to know and understand. Now take a walk with your old man."

Harry and James ambled through the Department of Mysteries. The few Unspeakables working that day nodded at Harry and his son. They found themselves approaching the Veil chamber and James once again asked a question that his father wouldn't answer.

"Why do you never talk about what happened in the Veil?"

Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"James –" he began.

"No! You were gone a year. We thought you were dead and you turn up in weird clothes armed with medieval weapons."

"James, I have already told you that it is classified to the highest levels of our department. Until you are ranked just below Department Head, you don't have the clearance. I truly wish I could tell you, but I am compelled by my oath of office to keep my silence on the matter."

"So you're saying that if you tell us you'll get fired?"

"No. If I broke my oaths and I told you anything about what happened I would lose my job, my magic and my life."

"So Mum and your own children will never find out?"

"I actually told your mother before they ordered my silence. She is under the oath of silence as well. While there are situations in which the oaths are negated or rendered moot, I can't even say what those loopholes are until the situation itself arises."

They were halfway through the chamber when they both started to get pulled towards the Veil. James yelled in shock and tried to stand his ground but his boots weren't gripping the floor enough to stop his progress towards the Veil.

Harry thought quickly and sent a messenger Patronus to Daphne, explaining what was happening to him and James. Ever since the last time he had gone through the Veil he had carried emergency supplies. Now, he was glad that he had prepared for this possibility.

"James! Wands out!"

James quickly followed his father's command and had drawn his wand just as he went through the Veil. Harry followed just after him.

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Lord Elrond stood with the Istari Gandalf and watched as the Wizard-turned-ranger Sirius of the House of Black opened the gateway.

Sirius was one of many called to the secret council at Rivendell alongside his fellow ranger Aragorn.

A little over two years ago, Gandalf brought word that he had discovered the One Ring. It was at Sirius' suggestion that they call forth Lord Potter to aid in its destruction.

Lord Potter had left instructions in order to open the Veil and Sirius had studied them rigorously. It had been over a century since he had last used magic so he unearthed his wand and began practicing again. Of course he had to get Gandalf to give his permission to use foreign magic in Arda, without which it wasn't possible.

Sirius had memorised the procedure to open the Veil and now, with less than a fortnight before the council, was ready to proceed.

Sirius began to chant in Latin, Ancient Greek, Aramaic and Norse to open the portal between worlds.

The Veil in Arda was a stone arch, just as on Earth. But where the Veil was supposed to ripple and wave like gossamer curtains in a slight breeze, there was stone.

As Sirius continued to chant, the stone turned to ice and then faded into the ethereal material it was supposed to be.

A startled yell was heard from the other side and then a voice commanded "James! Wands out!"

A second later, a boy of sixteen was ejected from the curtain. He was followed closely by Lord Potter who, upon being ejected, turned his fall into a roll and held his wand aloft ready to defend himself and his son.

Elrond stepped forth and bowed in respect.

"Welcome back to Arda, Lord Potter."


	2. Chapter 2

_**TROUBLE IN PARADISE**_

_**Chapter 2**_

"Harry, I'm retiring."

The twenty-five year old Lord and Unspeakable turned to the man who was walking beside him. His young face bore no sign of surprise, only resignation.

"I have a feeling as to where this conversation is going. . ."

Albert Croaker glared lightly at Harry as they continued walking. He then continued as if Harry hadn't spoken.

"I need someone capable to take over in my stead. Someone who will not cave in to the Wizengamot's demands of us. Someone who won't try use the artefacts for a hostile takeover of the country."

"Good luck with that. Now if you'll excuse me there is a time-turner with my name on it. Emperor Potter has a nice ring to it wouldn't you say?"

Albert chuckled heartily.

Harry looked somewhat resigned by this point.

"You intend to go through with this then?"

"Absolutely. I've lived this life from the end of Grindelwald's war, through incompetent governments, outright war and a political coup by Riddle's idiots."

Croaker grimaced.

"I told you when I recruited you and I will tell you again Potter. These walls house our nation's greatest assets and our greatest vulnerabilities. Artefacts that can destroy the world or reshape it entirely. We are the sentinels that safeguard our past, present and future. Despite our facility being contained within the British ministry I don't need to remind you that we answer only to the ICW and The Unspeakable."

Harry looked at his friend and mentor sharply.

"He does exist then? He's not just another coffee break rumour?"

"Of course he does. Not that we know if it IS a _he_ and not a she or something else."

"Interesting. And what does _he_ have to say about my appointment?"

"Strangely enough, I was about to put your name forward myself when he told me that you were the best option."

"The reclusive head of the International Unspeakables requested me personally?"

"He was quite adamant that no matter your demands or the concessions we had to make, YOU would be the next head of the British charter of Unspeakables."

This stunned Harry into silence for a minute.

"What about my research? I can barely get any time to work on them _now_ with the amount of paperwork I'm swamped with. I can only imagine it getting correspondingly huger."

Albert cracked a sly grin.

"Ah" he sighed contentedly. "The joys of _delegation_."

Harry's eyes narrowed in realisation.

"You utter _bastard_! I've been doing both our work for years _haven't I_!"

"And you won't do the same once you're in my position?"

"Of course I will. It's the principle of the thing that gets me. I never ONCE suspected that I was doing BOTH of our paperwork. But _now_. . ."

Harry's eyes glazed over at the thought of some MAJOR delegating. He cracked a grin and Croaker leaned in conspiratorially.

"Who have you got in mind?" he whispered.

They both broke into hearty guffaws as they finally entered the Veil Room.

This was currently the subject of Harry's intense study. When he first joined the Unspeakables Harry couldn't stand being in this room; too many flashbacks to fifth year. But Harry eventually grew used to the monolithic structure and became enamoured to the idea of uncovering its secrets.

Dozens of Unspeakables had, at one point or another, done their own studies of the Veil. Very little had been uncovered in regards to it beyond the fact that nothing that went through came back.

In a darker era of ministry history, the Veil was a method of execution but it had fallen out of use since Azkaban had been opened for business as it were.

It had, in recent times, become more active. The ripples in the curtain were more pronounced and it looked more and more opaque.

Many put this turn of events at the feet of one Sirius Black; the first in centuries to go beyond the curtains into the supposed realm beyond the sight and reach of mortal man.

"So what is this breakthrough that got you so excited?"

Harry cracked a smug grin.

"Have a look yourself."

Albert climbed the dais and noted that the ethereal curtains were now inexplicably stone. His jaw dropped.

"Wha – How did you do this!? No one in all our records has ever affected the actual Veil before."

He looked unsure for a moment before flatly asking "Have you broken it?"

Harry looked at his boss with the word _'Seriously?'_ etched on his face before taking out his wand and uttering a multilingual chant with his wand drawing runes over the stone.

The stone turned cold and into ice. The ice then faded into the familiar curtains which usually adorned the gigantic stone arch.

Albert grinned in appreciation of Harry's feat and was about to comment when . . .

'Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap'

The slow mocking sound echoed through the chamber and both Unspeakables drew their wands, turning to the entrance of the Veil room.

Lucius Malfoy and his son Draco walked into the room with both their wands trained on an Unspeakable.

"What business do you have here Lucius? Aren't you under permanent house-arrest?" Croaker asked, not really expecting an answer.

"And you Draco? You've been given a provisional pardon for your actions; one toe out of line and at best you get the same as you dear old dad there." Harry added, scanning the rest of the room for any other _guests_ who might be disillusionment charms.

"This is a Class 5 restricted area. State your purpose or we're putting you down!" Croaker demanded.

"Oh, we won't be here long. Unfinished business, you see." Lucius drawled at the both of them.

"You, Potter, have been tearing our way of life apart ever since the Dark Lord fell. Your _bitch_ has been destroying centuries of pureblood tradition in the Wizengamot and I've had enough." Draco put in.

"But not for much longer." Lucius finished.

"How do you figure?" Harry asked lightly.

"With you out of the picture, your wife will turn to her sister, my wife, for comfort. It shouldn't take too long to have her voting in our favour. If not," Draco grinned widely "well, you have three darling children. It would be a shame to have the number decrease, wouldn't it?"

Harry's eyes flashed.

"How do you plan to get away with this? You're both only a step or two away from a cold cell in Azkaban." Croaker asked.

"No witnesses or evidence, no crime." Draco replied.

"The Veil then? No bodies to dispose of and no one saw you come in?"

"Just so."

As Draco was talking, Harry fired a Messenger-Patronus to Daphne with his memory of the confrontation embedded in it.

Croaker flicked his wand at the ceiling and a high pitched siren, not unlike a smoke alarm, emitted throughout Level 9 of the ministry alerting the Hit Wizards of hostile intruders.

Malfoy senior launched a spell chain at Croaker, being the more experienced and dangerous opponent of the two. Meanwhile Draco shouted "AZ RETH!" and his wand spewed fire into Harry's direction. Harry, however had studied fiendfyre in order to fight Riddle and incanted the same spell in retaliation.

The cursed fire from Draco formed into a fierce dragon which spread its impressive wingspan and threw itself forward to engulf Harry. Harry's fire maintained its shape as a jet of fire and joined the dragon. Harry then imposed his will on the magic; that the fiery creature should disperse, and disperse it did.

Draco, while outraged at this, was quick to change tactics. He cast the killing curse at Croaker, who up to this point had been fairly well matched against Lucius, and then another at Harry. Albert was flung across the chamber but was dead before he hit the ground.

Harry, not noticing what happened to Croaker, moved his empty left hand to catch the killing curse. He pulled in the curse through his arm into his chest and kept pulling.

One must, at this point, remember that Harry, in his extensive and advanced training, had learned how to pull the pure magic from spells and enchantments. Back in the days of Merlin and the four Founders, combat magic was never used directly on one's opponent, they would alter the landscape or conjure golems. A wizard or witch could latch onto a direct spell and try to drain the person cursing them. This would start a _tug-of-war_ that the person with the most willpower would win. The loser of this _tug-of-war_ could be left weakened or even magicless. Such a sudden loss of magic for a witch or wizard can be fatal. That is why most of the ancient wizards and witches were so powerful.

Draco could feel a gut-wrenching _pull_ out of his chest down his arm and through his, now smoking, wand. His skin paled and greyed and a terrible scream erupted from his now parched throat. He realised that he couldn't stop his curse and then he fell to his knees.

Harry Potter was normally a man of great temperament. He was not prone to cruelty or excessive violence, but this scum had threatened his family. He was now on par with the late Riddle in Harry's books.

The last of the stream of magic fizzled out of Draco's charred wand and into Harry's left palm. If one looked closely, one would see a lightning bolt scar on his hand flash once and fade completely where the stream had entered his body. The fact that it faded signified that Draco didn't survive his magic leaving him. The more famous lightning bolt scar had disappeared years ago, when Voldemort had finally died for good.

Lucius, meanwhile, had not been idle after his opponent was killed. He disillusioned himself and positioned himself so his next spell would work. Potter hadn't moved from in front of the Veil for the entire encounter. Whatever Potter was doing to his idiot son had his complete and undivided attention, _'good'_.

Several things happened at once.

Draco Malfoy collapsed, face forward on the ground from where he had been kneeling, dead.

Harry Potter staggered at the heady feeling of magic pulsing through his body. This effect always left him slightly disoriented for a minute or so and his balance was shot.

Lucius smirked beneath his disillusionment charm, uncaring and unknowing of Draco's fate, as he levelled his wand at his enemy and cast a banishing charm.

Several Hit Wizards poured into the room and noticed a distorted outline of a person levelling a wand at Unspeakable Potter.

Harry heard a voice cry out a warning and suddenly he was flying backwards through the air.

Lucius felt savage triumph just before he was blasted by six simultaneous stunners. He flew unknowingly at the dais but didn't quite fly high enough to land on the higher platform. A sickening crack echoed through the chamber as Lucius' head collided with stone.

And Harry Potter, like his godfather before him, passed through the Veil.


End file.
